Trying Acupuncture for Chronic Pain Treatment

Acupuncture is the therapeutic use of very thin, hair-width needles to stimulate specific points on the body in order to reduce pain or disease and promote wellbeing. You may be thinking “But I hate needles; this sounds too painful!”

In my own experience, the needle insertion feels like a slight pinch, which disappears in a few seconds. If there is any discomfort, the acupuncturist will remove the needle.

After insertion, you usually cannot feel the needles. Occasionally, there may be a sense of warmth or heaviness around the insertion point. The needles are typically left in for 15-30 minutes while you rest.

What Is Acupuncture?

Acupuncture has been used for over 3,000 years and is an integral part of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). In this medical system, health is understood as achieving balance between opposing forces (yin and yang).

Traditionally, essential life energy, called ‘qi’ (chee) is believed to flow along channels in the body called meridians, keeping yin and yang balanced. Acupuncture points are mapped along meridians — if the flow of qi is blocked, it causes pain and disease (imbalance).

Stimulating acupuncture points restores the flow of qi along the meridians, improving the health of the individual and restoring balance.

A Western Approach

Western medicine offers a different perspective on how acupuncture works. Scientific studies demonstrate that acupuncture points are often located on nerve bundles or muscle trigger points.

Acupuncture has been found to increase blood flow to tissues around the acupuncture point, promote healing of localized tissues, and affect the central nervous system. Some of the nervous system effects include down-regulating pain sensation, encouraging a relaxed brain state, and calming the autonomic nervous system.

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However, some sceptics believe these findings only demonstrate a strong placebo response to acupuncture.

How Can Acupuncture Help Chronic Pain?

Dozens of studies have investigated whether acupuncture is an effective treatment for chronic pain. The National Centre for Complementary and Integrative Health explains that “results from a number of studies suggest acupuncture may help … types of pain that are often chronic,” including low-back pain, neck pain and osteoarthritis.

Acupuncture may also reduce the frequency of tension headaches and prevent migraines. A recent review of 150 studies conducted over the past 50 years concluded that acupuncture is a safe and effective treatment for back pain and osteoarthritis.

What the Research Says

Researchers have been interested in the question of whether it matters if needles are inserted in TCM acupuncture points or at random points on the body (a placebo, or so-called “sham acupuncture”).

To answer this question, researchers analyzed 29 separate randomized controlled studies that included a total of 18,000 study participants with chronic pain. The researchers concluded that the effectiveness of acupuncture at TCM acupuncture points for pain reduction was statistically significant compared to sham acupuncture. They concluded that acupuncture was an effective treatment option for people with chronic pain conditions.

Another recent study investigated the effectiveness of individualized acupuncture treatment programs for patients with fibromyalgia (as opposed to most studies that use a standardized treatment program). Tailored treatments were compared to “sham acupuncture” treatments.

Researchers found that, after nine weeks of 20-minute treatment sessions, individuals who received the tailored acupuncture reported a 41 percent decrease in pain compared to 27 percent for the sham acupuncture group.

Interestingly, at a 12-month follow-up, the tailored treatment group still reported a 20 percent pain reduction from the study’s beginning, as compared to six percent for the sham treatment group.

The NCCIH notes that one of the benefits of acupuncture is the low-side effect profile (when conducted by a credentialed acupuncturist using sterilized needles). Since medication for chronic pain often causes significant side effects, this makes acupuncture an attractive treatment option for people living with chronic pain.

Katarina Zulak is an ePatient blogger and health writer. Six years ago she was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. On her blog, she writes about learning to be skillfully well, even when living with a chronic condition. Katarina lives in Toronto, Canada with her husband and their cat Lily.